1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image input/output apparatus, which are connected to other apparatuses via a communication medium, a method of controlling the image input/output apparatus, an image input/output system, and storage media storing programs for executing the above methods.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, image forming systems have been devised, including those (hereinafter referred to as “remote copying systems”) comprised of an image input apparatus (for example, a scanner) and an image output apparatus (for example, a printer) connected to each other by a transmission medium such as a network via a controller unit, and those (hereinafter referred to as “cascade copying systems”) comprised of a single image input apparatus and a plurality of image output apparatuses, in which the image input apparatus transmits images to the image output apparatuses in order to improve productivity.
Further, in recent years, the functions of image input/output apparatuses (for example, copying machines) have been significantly improved, and the remote copying systems and cascade copying systems are required to provide copying functions and performance equivalent to those of local copying provided by a single local image input/output apparatus.
Moreover, one of the image operation modes available is an automatic cassette selecting mode of selecting an optimum sheet size for image formation. This is an operation mode in which the size of an image input by an image input apparatus is detected, and, out of cassettes possessed by an image output apparatus, a cassette having sheets of the most suitable size set therein is selected automatically. By selecting the optimum sheet size using the automatic cassette selecting mode, the user can set the sheet size easily. When image formation is carried out in one of the above described conventional image forming systems using the automatic cassette selecting mode, the automatic cassette selection is executed by the image input apparatus by checking cassette information on a plurality of image output apparatuses.
Typically, when a single image input/output apparatus executes local copying, it transmits information (hereinafter referred to as “image-accompanying information”) accompanying an image and obtained when an original was scanned, to a printer, which then controls printing based on this image-accompanying information. Such image-accompanying information includes, for example, the amount of white space (i.e. the margin sizes) provided at the top, bottom, left and right of the scanned image, the type of the original (for example, text or photograph), the size of the original, information for distinguishing the front of the original from the back, and the image size prior to correction in the case that the image size has been corrected by fine zooming adjustment.
However, although the remote copying systems or cascade copying systems are required to provide copying functions and performance equivalent to those of local apparatuses, the image output apparatus has insufficient image-accompanying information, so that output images obtained may not be so good as those obtained by local copying.
Moreover, when the image input apparatus carries out automatic cassette selection for a remote image output apparatus when carrying out image input, there is a need to collectively manage cassette information for a plurality of image output apparatuses on the image input apparatus side. Thus, when a cassette of one of the image output apparatuses has been changed, the user or apparatus has to perform troublesome operations such as changing the cassette information.
Further, when a cascade operation has been started but an error occurs because, for example, no sheet has been set in a cassette at a selected remote location which has been selected through the automatic cassette selecting operation, the user may have to change the cassette at the remote location, and then return to the image input apparatus to give a “restart” instruction, suspend image transmission, and execute other cumbersome processes required to eliminate the error. Consequently, the overall productivity decreases.